The article examines the problems facing African scholars and publishers, in the context of rapid developments in information technology and a deepening economic gulf between industrialised and Third World countries. Many of these problems, and conventional responses to them from libraries, publishers, and donors, are themselves a legacy of colonial relations, the most significant of which is the deepening dependence on Western forms of knowledge and systems to validate all forms of intellectual activity. Questioning the terms 'information-rich' and 'information-poor', the author stresses the need for Africans to develop the means to generate, value, and disseminate their own forms of knowledge.

This article challenges the recent uncritical enthusiasm for the potential of micro-finance institutions to reduce poverty. It is argued that, although understanding about how to design anti-poverty financial intermediation has improved, the current campaign to increase resource allocation in this sector may undermine the very sustainability that is being sought. Further, studies of the impact of micro-enterprise credit suggest that it is not necessarily beneficial to very poor people. Interventions in the provision of financial services should not be made without locally specific analysis of the functions of existing savings and credit facilities. An emphasis on scale acts as a disincentive to such analysis, and increases the risk of the reemergence of a 'blueprint' approach to anti-poverty action.

There is growing interest in organisational and institutional development, or capacity-building, but little understanding of what these involve in practice. This article provides a case-study of a successful long-term programme of institutional development, which built the capacities of the Tibetan refugee community in development planning. The primary focus is on key features for adaptation by development practitioners. The authors also clarify some of the confusions in the debate on organisational and institutional development.

Rehabilitation involves re-establishing livelihood security among the poorest households in order to reduce vulnerability to future disasters, re-start the local economy in a sustainable fashion, and avoid dependency. This article discusses experiences of post-war rehabilitation in Mozambique and suggests that, although many households rapidly re-started crop production, they remain vulnerable because they have not been able to rebuild reserves. The author cautions against over-rapid withdrawal from relief programmes, and suggests that distributing cash and allowing households to buy what they need most is sometimes more appropriate than distributing food, seeds, tools, and selected household goods.

In Bangladesh, government organisations and non-governmental organisations are implementing programmes and energy-saving projects in an effort to save the environment. This article examines such programmes in the specific area of improved stove technology. It shows that inadequate assessment of the environment by environmentalists and development practitioners has led them to select inappropriate technology that has resulted in the failure to incorporate women in the energysaving movement. It identifies the reasons behind women's rejection of a technology that was imposed rather than based on an appreciation of their distinct problems, culture, and ecology.

We not only want a piece of the pie, we also want to choose the flavour, and know how to make it ourselves. (Ela Bhatt, President, SEWA)

The European Commission and other OECD countries would like a foreign-investment treaty (or 'multilateral investment agreement') within the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This would allow foreign companies to establish themselves with 100 per cent equity in all sectors (except security) in any WTO country; and receive 'national treatment' on a par with local firms. National policies favouring local enterprises or facilities would be deemed discriminatory, and thus illegal under WTO rules. The penalties for non-compliance with WTO agreements are extensive. This article explores the grave implications of such a treaty for developing countries, and suggests alternatives that are available to them.

This article reviews the extent to which the educational system has acknowledged the importance to women of the informal sector of the economy, and the extent to which it has sought to prepare them for employment or self-employment within it. It assesses the record of both formal and non-formal education in providing women with the necessary skills to compete with men for employment, and concludes that both have generally failed to assist women to obtain skilled, well-paid, and secure jobs, leaving them in overwhelming numbers in subsistence-level activities in the informal sector. Within the non-formal approach to education, the article examines training in income-generating projects, which are a major conduit for ssistance to poor women in developing countries. Some recommendations for improved strategies of education and training provision are presented. 1